A bug's life

     Thank God, it's Friday!  How many of us have used that expression at the close of a hectic week of work? 

     Some label work as a curse on society, and some even blame our first parents, Adam and Eve, for causing it all. 

     To Adam He [God] said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you... cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life... By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food." (Genesis 3:17-19). 

      

     I grew up in a culture where hard work was the norm —necessary to provide for our every day needs. As a result, I learned early on about patience, perseverance and determination — good work ethics that later on helped me in the hard places I encountered. 

     
     The admonition from the Good Book, "If a man will not work, he shall not eat," (2 Thessalonians 10:6) was often quoted in our family. 

     Also, Idle hands finds mischief. We were also reminded of the wisdom of the busy little ant; "Go to the ant, you sluggard, consider its ways and be wise. It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest." (Proverbs 6: 6-8). 
     Voltaire wisely said, "Work banishes those three great evils, boredom, vice, and poverty." Strange as it may seem, work is truly a blessing in disguise. Choosing a type of work you love to do or something you have a passion for, makes it pleasurable and more worthwhile. When you feel successful at something, it doesn't feel like work, but more like a way of life. You feel you are making your contribution to the world. 
     As mandatory retirement in some instances is no more, many people can still enjoy their chosen place of work. 

Who says a fruitful life is over when you reach the senior years? 

     

Michelangelo

Many have accomplished great tasks in their waning years: Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel lying on his back on a scaffold, when almost 90; the Polish composer Paderewski still played the piano superbly at the age of 79; John Wesley was still preaching every day at 88, and Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote the noted poem, Crossing the Bar, at 83. 

     

     Though work can bring us satisfaction, we need to avoid becoming a compulsive worker, remembering to save some for tomorrow. 

      The following poem — a favourite that I committed to memory during my high school days — would often surface in my mind, during some of my challenging days of teaching children, early on in my career. It suggests that as we carry out our chosen work in our own unique way, we will experience fulfillment and be at peace, at end of day. 

Work 
Let me but do my work from day to day, 
In field or forest, at the desk or loom, 
In roaring market-place or tranquil room; 
Let me but find it in my heart to say, 
When vagrant wishes beckon me astray, 
"This is my work, my blessing, not my doom; 
Of all who live, I am the one by whom 
This work can best be done in the right way." 
Then shall I see it not too great, nor small, 
To suit my spirit and to prove my powers; 
Then shall I cheerful greet the labouring hours, 
And cheerful turn, when the long shadows fall 
At eventide, to play and love and rest, 
Because I know for me my work is best. 

— Henry Van Dyke 

A Smile for Good Health 

     Overheard at the water cooler, "The boss said that I would get a raise when I earned it. He's crazy if he thinks I'm gonna wait that long."

— beulah